Public Invited to Submit Their Views on Road Safety

June 27th, 2012

Public Consultation Launched for New Road Safety Strategy

The Road Safety Authority (RSA) has today announced that it is seeking the views of the public on how to improve safety on Irish roads. Submissions from the public, as part of the public consultation process, will form an important part of the fourth Government Road Safety Strategy which is currently being coordinated and drafted by the RSA.

The new strategy will cover the period 2013 to 2020 and will replace the current strategy which will expire at the end of this year. As part of the public consultation process, the RSA is inviting members of the public to play an important role in shaping road safety policy by submitting their views on what should be included in the next Road Safety Strategy.

Details of the consultation process plus an online facility for making submissions to the strategy, is currently available onwww.rsa.ie

Mr Noel Brett, Chief Executive, Road Safety Authority said: “The current Government Road Safety Strategy, which will end this year, was the most successful yet. When it was drafted, a target was set to reduce road deaths to no more than 21 per month, or 252 per year, by 2012. This was achieved three years ahead of schedule in 2009. Many factors contributed to the success of the current strategy but a critical part of achieving the target was the changed behaviour of road-users.”

“So once again, we want to hear your views on what should be included in the new Road Safety Strategy. Road safety is something we all play an important role in, so we are asking all road-users to get involved by submitting their ideas on how we can improve safety on our roads. Every idea or proposal will be reviewed and considered so I would encourage people to get involved in this process. This is your chance to help shape the future of road safety in Ireland.”

The RSA has identified four areas that have the most impact on road safety and is encouraging people to consider these areas in their submissions. They are:

Education Measures:Explaining and teaching road safety to road users

Engineering Measures:Building roads and vehicles more safely

Enforcement Measures:Policing those who refuse to behave safely on the roads

Evaluation Measures:Examining what has worked or failed

Those wishing to make suggestions by post should ensure their submission takes up no more than two full A4 pages per area (i.e. Education, Engineering, Enforcement and Evaluation) and can be posted directly to: Road Safety Strategy 2013-2020, Road Safety Authority, Moy Valley, Primrose Hill, Ballina, Co Mayo. They can also be emailed to strategy@rsa.ie

The RSA is also consulting with Government departments and other agencies and organisations with a road safety function to get their views on what the key road safety targets should be and how they can be implemented effectively by working together. The Road Safety Strategy 2013-2020 is due to be published in December.